A RAMSBOTTOM dad has written a poem about SATS - and it's gone viral!

Paul Jenkins shared a video of him performing the poem, 'Don't Stress the SPAG', on Facebook last weekend in an attempt to give year six pupils a helping hand before their exams.

It has since amassed more than 65,000 views and Mr Jenkins says he has been inundated with messages from parents and teachers.

In 2014, the 40-year-old gave up a full-time job as a high school teacher to pursue a career as a performance poet.

As part of his work, he visits schools across the country to help children develop their poetry skills.

While working with year sixes preparing for their SATS at a school in Wigan last year, Mr Jenkins came up with the poem 'Don’t Stress the SPAG'.

He said: "I saw the stress they were under so wrote the poem for them.

"Last Friday, I was at a school in Bury and as I was leaving, there was a young girl who was really quite distressed about her upcoming exams so I read the poem to show that lots of others are experiencing this stress, too.

"When I got home I thought I would record it so people could share it with their pupils experiencing similar feelings."

The poem is all the more relevant for Mr Jenkins as his 10-year-old son, Thomas, is in his final year at Holcombe Brook Primary School and has just finished his own SATS exams.

Mr Jenkins added: "We managed to get across to him that no matter how he did, it is not a reflection of him. It's just a mark on a test.

"The stress of the exams is not worth the worry. There are so many other things pupils do that can be celebrated."

Since focussing on his poetry full-time, Mr Jenkins has released two books of poems with his son.

The books pair Mr Jenkins’ verse with his son's illustrations.

The pair published their first book, My Bottom Did a Burp in Class, last year and their second effort, Wibbly Wobbly Words, which features Don't Stress the SPAG on it, was released earlier this year.

Speaking of his work in schools, he said: "Sometimes teachers can be worried about teaching poetry so they avoid it and my job is to bring it to life and make it fun for kids.

"Teachers are not getting the time to do those sorts of things because they are so busy preparing for tests."

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